Brazil plot Germany demise without Neymar, Silva

July 8, 2014

Neymar Silva out

Belo Horizonte, Jul 8: Brazil and Germany collide in a heavyweight clash of continental superpowers here Tuesday as the World Cup semi-finals get under way.

The prize for the winner is a place in Sunday´s final where they will meet either Argentina or the Netherlands, who face off in another South America-Europe semi-final duel on Tuesday.

Brazil face Germany missing star striker Neymar and captain Thiago Silva after an appeal to FIFA to rescind his suspension fell on deaf ears on Monday.

Two hundred million Brazilians may not agree with him but German coach Joachim Loew suggests this twin misfortune may help rather than hinder the hosts.

"Setbacks often set free additional forces," Loew said.

"Nobody should believe that our task is made easier by the loss of Neymar, quite the opposite." And Thiago Silva´s suspension shows the depth of the Selecao´s squad." (Brazil coach Luiz) Felipe Scolari can now use a player like (Bayern Munich centre-back) Dante, so I can´t see there being a loss of quality."

Scolari has urged Brazil to use Neymar´s injury blow as motivation to reach the title.

"I think the additional motivation we must have in every match is going up another step and getting closer to our objective of the final," Scolari said.

"The way Neymar spoke to the players made them understand that he had done his share and now we need to do our share. "Myself, the other players, all the Brazilian people. This match is very important, it could take us to the final. "We are playing for our country, it is everything we imagined and dreamed of, and also for Neymar."

Silva´s captain´s armband will be worn by Paris Saint-Germain´s £50 million ($85 million) new acquisition, David Luiz.

The former Chelsea defender and his colleagues, who have the hopes of an expectant nation resting heavily on their shoulders, or Germany will have to wait 24 hours to discover the identity of the team they´ll meet in Sunday´s climax at the Maracana.

Curiously, the two countries´ paths have only crossed once before at a World Cup - in the 2002 final with Brazil prevailing 2-0.

Wednesday´s second semi-final sees the Dutch facing Lionel Messi´s Argentina in Sao Paulo - a repeat of the 1978 final won by the Argentines 3-1 in extra-time.

Like Brazil, Argentina go into battle with sizeable personnel problems of their own.

While four-time World Footballer of the Year Messi reports for duty, Argentina must contest their first semi-final since 1990 without Angel di Maria.

The Real Madrid forward´s absence following injury in the quarter-final win over Belgium is an enormous blow to Alejandro Sabella´s team.

On the plus side Argentina say that striker Sergio Aguero is fit to return after a leg muscle problem ruled the Manchester City striker out of the last 16 defeat of Switzerland.

Dismissed as ´ordinary´ by Belgium coach Marc Wilmots after Saturday´s quarter-final Messi-inspired Argentina have now won their first five matches at a World Cup finals for the first time.

Sabella has hailed the Barcelona legend´s contribution in Brazil, declaring: "He´s the water in the desert. He finds solutions when we think there aren´t any."

Messi is about to find out whether he is up to solving the complex riddle posed by master tactician Louis van Gaal´s highflying Dutch side.

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News Network
January 31,2020

Wellington, Jan 31: A nervous New Zealand threw it away yet again as a perseverant India prevailed in the Super Over for the second successive time to take a 4-0 lead in the T20 International series on Friday.

Needing just 11 runs off the last two overs with seven wickets in hand, New Zealand dug a hole for themselves yet again, taking the game to a Super Over two nights after doing the same in Hamilton.

New Zealand managed 13 runs in six balls and India got there effortlessly.

KL Rahul smashed 10 runs off the first two balls before he was caught. Then, a fired-up Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson finished the game in style.

Earlier, Manish Pandey proved his value to the team with an unbeaten 50 off 35 balls, taking India to 165 for eight from 88 for six in the 12th over.

India's total wasn't enough considering the batting-friendly conditions but the hosts made life a lot tougher for themselves from a commanding position before succumbing to pressure.

The entertaining knocks from Colin Munro (64 off 47) and Time Seifert went in vain (57 off 39).

Mohammed Shami, who was rested on Friday, had bowled a brilliant 20th over on Wednesday and man of the match Shardul Thakur was up to the task this time, conceding just six runs when the opposition needed seven for victory.

With the series already in the bag, India gave opportunity to Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini for the first time in the five-match series, resting Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Shami. However, none of them was able to make an impact in the game.

Chasing 165, New Zealand lost Martin Guptill early. But Munro and Seifert put on 74 runs for the second wicket to put themselves on track.

Munro scored a half-century of 38 deliveries, inclusive of six fours and three sixes. He was out against the run of play as Kohli's direct hit surprisingly found the target after a relay throw from the deep.

It was the turning point as New Zealand lost regular wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal bowled Tom Bruce (0), but Seifert found a partner in Ross Taylor as they pushed the score past 150 in the 18th over.

Seifert scored a half-century off 32 balls, including four fours and three sixes. But the great choke was yet to come again. Needing 18 off 18, the Black Caps lost four wickets in the last over bowled by Thakur.

Taylor holed out of the first ball, while Seifert was run out two balls later. Daryl Mitchell (4) was caught next and Mitchell Santner (2) couldn't steal two runs off the last ball as the sides engaged in a tie-breaker for the second game running.

This was after New Zealand won a fourth consecutive toss and opted to field. Kane Williamson didn't take part in the match owing to a shoulder niggle.

Tim Southee was the stand-in skipper, with the Black Caps making two changes.

Put in to bat, the visitors were struggling at 88-6 at one stage before Pandey's lonesome rescue act took them to a respectable total. KL Rahul contributed 39 runs off 26 balls, inclusive of three sixes and two fours.

Leg spinner Ish Sodhi got into the act and ran through India's batting order. First to go was Shreyas Iyer (1) and then Shivam Dube (12) was caught at mid-wicket.

Sodhi finished with 3-26 while Santner dismissed Sundar for nought as the New Zealand spinners rounded up a good outing with 4-54 in eight overs.

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Agencies
August 6,2020

New Delhi, Aug 6: The BCCI on Thursday suspended the IPL title sponsorship deal with Chinese mobile phone company Vivo for the event's upcoming edition amid heightened tensions in Sino-India diplomatic ties.

The BCCI sent out a one-line statement, without giving details, saying that Vivo would not be associated with the IPL this year. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd have decided to suspend their partnership for Indian Premier League in 2020," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Vivo released its own statement saying that the two entities "have mutually decided to pause their partnership for the 2020 season".

Vivo won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs 2,190 crore, approximately Rs 440 crore per annum.

The two parties are now working out a plan in which Vivo might come back for a fresh three-year period starting 2021 on revised terms.

However, a top BCCI official offered a different view. "Here we are talking about diplomatic tensions and you expect that after November, when IPL ends and before the next IPL starts in April 2021, there would be no anti-China sentiment? Are we serious?" a veteran BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

The anti-China sentiment in the country peaked after the violent face-off between the Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh. India lost 20 soldiers in the clash, while China also acknowledged unspecified casualties.

The stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) caused outrage across India with several calls for boycotts of Chinese companies and products.

The BCCI is now likely to float a tender for new IPL title sponsors as mandated by its constitution. The glitzy T20 league starts on Sept. 19 in the UAE, forced out of India due to the rising COVID-19 cases.

The new development is in stark contrast to what came out of Sunday's IPL's Governing Council meeting, where it was decided that Vivo, along with all the other sponsors, will remain on board.

This was after the BCCI had announced in June that all sponsorship deals pertaining to IPL will be reviewed in the aftermath of the clash in the Galwan Valley.

However, after Sunday's meeting, there was a huge backlash on social media about the BCCI holding on to Vivo.

Both parties then began thrashing out an amicable separation plan, at least for this season.

However, the end of this deal could spell losses for the franchises as they get a substantial share from the sponsorship pool. Half of the annual Vivo sponsorship money is distributed equally among eight franchises, which comes to Rs 27.5 crore.

"As of now, it will be very difficult for the BCCI to match the sponsorship amount at such short notice. Therefore, both BCCI and the franchises should be prepared to lose out on some money -- BCCI more but each franchise from Vivo's exit will potentially lose 15 crore," the official said.

"This year will be difficult for everyone but the show must go on," the official said.

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News Network
April 8,2020

London, Apr 8: England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has raised more than 65,000 pound (USD 80,000) to help fight the coronavirus by auctioning off his World Cup final shirt.

Buttler's shirt, which he wore when completing the last-ball run-out that saw England beat New Zealand at Lord's last year, was sold to raise money for specialist heart and lung centres provided by the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in London.

Buttler, who earlier in the showpiece match had hit a fifty and batted in the Super Over, put his long-sleeve keeping jersey up for sale on eBay a week ago.

By the time the auction closed on Tuesday, the shirt had attracted 82 bids with the winner paying 65,100 pound.

Buttler, speaking on Monday, said: "It's a very special shirt but I think it takes on extra meaning with it being able to hopefully go to the emergency cause.

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